Join the Conversation

Pre-Law Program

A legal career can be a rewarding profession. At its best, legal practice challenges
the intellect, demanding the exercise of reason and judgment. The ethics of the profession
requires attorneys to promote justice, fairness and morality; thus, legal careers
can bring particular satisfaction to those who seek to work to promote social justice
within the law.

The pre-law program at Saint Xavier University assists students in all majors who
plan to seek admission to law school or a legal career after graduation. It recommends
courses to better prepare students for the Law School Aptitude Test (LSATs) and provides
advising, mentoring, various activities and resources to support academic and career
planning efforts.

Saint Xavier University provides a Pre-Law Handbook (PDF) for students considering the legal profession, or legal study, and for candidates
applying to law school. This handbook (PDF) is designed to help students at every stage of their undergraduate studies
at SXU.

For information about pre-law program activities and events, please visit us on Facebook.

Recommended Courses for Pre-Law Students

According to the American Bar Association, there are no recommended undergraduate
majors or groups of courses designated as “pre-law” education. Students are admitted
to law school from almost every academic discipline. However, undergraduate students
who consider entering a law school and pursuing a legal career are encouraged to take
an area of study that interests and challenges them, while taking advantage of opportunities
to develop their research and writing skills. An excellent way to prepare for a legal
education is to take a broad range of difficult courses. These courses include those
which cultivate and enhance basic skills of analytic problem solving, critical reading,
writing, oral communication, general research and task organization and management.
Also strongly recommended are those that offer a broad understanding of history and
the development of American society, a fundamental grasp of political thought and
the contemporary American political system, some familiarity with mathematics for
financial and evidentiary analysis, a basic understanding of human behavior and social
interaction, and fundamental knowledge of international institutions, world events,
and globalization.

Thus we recommend that students take these courses as part of and/or in addition to
their general education courses at SXU: